Redemption Part 6

Redemption
Part 6: Appearances
By SJ 12-23-01/ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)

________________
Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs
to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.
See my homepage for more details.
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/3702

Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
help with the final editing of my new stories. Thanks for giving
me some of your precious time, my friend :)
__________________

Mara didn't like to be kept out by locked doors. Normally, she wouldn't have
been stopped for long by them, but since she was supposed to be little more than
young Lord Vader's consort, she had patiently waited to be allowed inside by her
boyfriend and his father. Naturally, she had tried to get a sense of what had
been going on behind the closed doors, but other than a flash of terror from her
lover, she hadn't felt anything but a cold wall which she knew was designed to
keep her away from his mind for the time being.

Eventually, she admitted to herself that she had a very, very bad feeling about
this.

Finally, the doors opened; she gathered her skirts in her hands and rushed
inside--- only to freeze in shock when she heard her boyfriend's yelp of pain,
then the sound of a body crashing on the deck. Putting one and one together,
she ran toward the now revealed black silhouette of his father--- and stopped
short in horror.

There, less than five meters away from her, laid her lover, weakened unlike
anything that she had ever seen for him. While she took in those details, his
father mentioned something about remembering where he belonged, then the dark
lord turned around, seemed to glare at her before he stalked toward the double
doors.

For another, extra moment, Mara remained frozen in confusion and horror, then
she recovered and rushed to her lover's help.

At first unsure if he was still conscious or not, she checked his senses, then,
once she managed to rouse him, asked him what had happened.

"I... angered the master..." he answered cryptically, weakly.

Angered the master?, she wondered in confusion. How? When? What had he done?
Before she could ask him more questions though, she felt him slip back into
unconsciousness. She roused him again.

"I can't carry you alone, Luke. You have to help me," she told him seriously.

Then, before he could answer her, she slipped her hand behind his neck and
helped him up to a sitting position.

"So I take it that you don't have access to the medcenter, huh?" his lover
inquired seriously once he had crashed on their bed.

Luke barely moaned in answer, having depleted his reserves of energies to reach
their bedroom.

"Just what did you do this time, farmboy?" she inquired from inside their small
'fresher'. A silence ensued. "Well?" she demanded as she returned in the room.

Feeling unable to talk yet aware that his 'confessing' to Mara would be the
final touch to his and his father's cover-up strategy, he reached out for her,
re-establishing as much of their link as he could without betraying his true
secret.

*I was under my sister's influence,* he sent briefly.

"Your sister? But she's dead," Mara objected.

*Not completely,* he mentally amended. *While we were together, her good heart
and Light side powers managed to get through to me... and I kept her alive with
my memories... until now.*

"So," Mara nodded while she sat beside him to begin his tending, "what you're
saying is that she was corrupting you?"

*Yes,* he admitted mock-shamefully. *I didn't even know that it was happening,
but the Master felt it... and warned Father.*

"And the punishment? If you didn't know about it, why did he punish you?"

*Because I wouldn't listen otherwise,* he lied, hiding it under feelings of
shame and repentance.

"Still because of your sister's influence," Mara surmised as she continued to
dab at his injuries.

*Yes,* he agreed with her. *Now, I will be wary of strange thoughts; I won't
care anymore about my targets.*

His lover expressed her relief, then fell silent; so did he.

While he tried to not complain too much, as if hardening himself, he reflected
that accepting another 'discipline' was one thing, but being behind orders that
would condemn more souls... he would truly need to harden himself to play his
part to perfection. He knew that he couldn't fail and risk the Emperor's
suspicion once again; he wouldn't survive the next time, nor would his father
once he would be alone.

"That was why you were acting strangely throughout the past weeks, wasn't it?"
his lover inquired while she cut the remains of his pants open.

He barely moaned in answer.

"You could have told me," she rebuked him, surprising him with her genuine
sadness. "I would have understood, and I would have tried to help you," she
continued earnestly.

Ignoring his injured body, Luke slowly shifted until he could gaze at his
beautiful companion; her eyes were brimming with tears. Weakly, he brought his
hand to her own, then gently squeezed it.

*I didn't know how to tell you, my love,* he comforted her, *I didn't even know
how to explain it to myself,* he then lied slightly.

"Still," she shook her head in understanding, then leaned closer until she was
gazing straight into his eyes. "You could have trusted me," she commented, her
heart slightly broken with disappointment. "You can trust me, my love," she
added, leaning closer and closer until their lips gently touched.

*Don't cut me out again, please,* she sent to him along with a tentative 'link'
to strengthen their bond.

At first worried, Luke quickly debated what he should do, then decided that he
could only do one thing: open himself to her once again. But not his whole
self, he decided as he reinforced his shield around his Jedi self before he
accepted the new link; he 'fastened' it on the opposite side of the shielded
area of his mind.

Mara only felt his accepting her; they deepened their kiss.

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the flagship, Anakin pretended to overlook the
waiting fleet.

In fact though, he was reflecting on his daughter's words.

They would have to remain dark lords for a while longer, but they would also
have to retain their Light for the right moment. How would they be able to do
that, he wondered? Up to now, he had only had to talk like Vader, and stride
like him, but today, he had had to be as cruel as he used to be... and he had
felt the darkness grow once again inside of him.

While he hadn't relished the injuries that he had inflicted upon his already
unconscious son, the last two had been strange.

They had awakened his anger... his dangerous anger.

He knew that Luke was also quick to anger, that it was their weakness and true
path to the Dark Side. If they had to be Dark Lords for weeks, probably even
months... how could they keep the anger from eating them up once again, he
wondered worriedly. What had broken them free of it had been their love for
Leia, but in Luke's case, it had betrayed him to the Emperor's senses. So, what
else could be their safety buoy for the next months? he wondered.

The answer for his son was easy of course: Mara.

The youth loved his companion more than anything else in the galaxy, even more
than freedom sometimes. Given the rest of his son's personality, he knew that
he wouldn't fall back in the Dark side although, he suddenly remembered, they
needed her to be away from Luke to gather the information that he could acquire
for them. Well, he surmised, Luke would still love her.

However, he himself would also need a tool, a trick to keep himself from 'being'
a darksider--- then, it came to him in a flash of wisdom.

Being at peace, quiet. The very opposite of the Dark Side.

Neither of them had really experienced the well-known Jedi serenity, instead
being driven right and left by their feelings, Light and dark alike, but if they
wanted to succeed in their endeavor, he understood, it was time for them to
start emptying their minds. That way, they wouldn't change anything in their
actions as 'darksiders', but they wouldn't feed their bad feelings, nor would
they tap into the DarkSide...

However, he reflected seriously, it would also be better advised for him and
Luke to cut back on the Force. That way, he knew that they would cause less
ripples in the Emperor's powerful mediations. While he approached the strategy
table and began to make changes on it, he made a note to himself to mention his
discovery to his son as soon as he would be recovered enough to talk with him.

Mara was deeply asleep in the crook of Luke's arm when her master's senses
roused her awake.

*Report to me immediately, my Hand,* he ordered her, then cut the link.

Although still slightly sleep-confused, Mara understood that he wanted her to
use the Holonet. Slowly, careful to not wake her resting boyfriend, she slipped
out of bed, then headed toward the door. She hurried to reach her lover's
reception device.

The Emperor was already waiting for her.

"Well?" he inquired without anymore preamble.

Mara knelt respectfully, wondering what he was expecting from her, then it
clicked.

"He is resting at the moment, Master," she told him as coolly as she could.

Inwardly though, she was unhappy to have become a spy on her lover's case.

"What did he tell you?" he asked coldly.

"That he didn't know that he was under his sister's influence, Master," she
answered deferentially, "and that he would now be wary of his unusual thoughts
and feelings."

"Did you feel any deceit in him this time."

"No Master," she reassured him. "He strengthened our bond; he is tired, in
pain, and resolved to not anger you again, Master," she told him, closing her
eyes to read her boyfriend's mind through the said bond.

"Now that we know what happened, my Hand," the Emperor told her in a chilling
tone of voice, "you will keep a close eye on him and make sure that the rebel
pest didn't leave us anymore unwelcome surprises."

"As you wish... Master," she bowed to hide her wince.

The Emperor saw it all the same.

"It is for our safety, his included, Mara Jade," he curtly reminded her. "For
the moment, he isn't young Vader and won't be until we have ascertained that he
is clean of any Jedi corruption."

"I understand Master," she nodded.

"But?" he supplied meanly for her.

Mara bit her lip in doubt, then spoke up.

"I don't want to hurt him, Master."

"Then make sure that he is completely back," the Emperor almost sneered, then
was gone.

Mara hurried to bow her head, then she realized in horror that someone had
witnessed the end of the transmission.

Luke, dressed in his bath robe, was deathly pale, leaning hard against the door
frame of their main quarters and was already slipping down to the deck in
undoubting shock.

Even as she rushed to his help before he had completely faltered, she dimly
reflected that she now understood why her master had bothered with the holonet.
He had wanted Luke to hear her orders so that he would know what was the price
for his lack of total devotion to him: her.

Behind them, the doors opened once again, allowing entrance to another dark Lord
of the Sith.

Anakin stepped inside his son's quarters--- just in time to see him falter in
his lover's embrace. He instantly berated himself for his too weakened status,
then hurried to help the young woman with his half-conscious son.

"Here, let me," he told her even as he took hold of his son's arm and slung it
over his large shoulders. "Why is he up?"

"Oh now's the time to worry about this, isn't it?" the red-head inquired
indignantly, surprising him with the sting of her voice. "If you hadn't made
such a job on him, he would be in better shape."

"I had no choice," was his answer even as he scooped Luke's legs up, then
brought him back inside his bedroom.

In his arms, Luke remained silent, stricken.

"What happened?" he asked the petite woman who was following them.

"He overheard the Emperor's orders," she answered shortly.

"Which are?" he inquired seriously.

"She spies on me," Luke's broken, weak voice, answered him sadly, forcing both
him and Mara silent.

They both gazed at him, then at each other.

"I won't Luke," she promised him as they entered the bedroom. "I will make sure
that you are your true self."

And with that, Anakin understood why his son was so stricken by his expected
discovery. He was playing a role, but at the same time, he had just become
aware that his beloved was truly lost to him. She belonged to the Emperor,
always would.

"And so will I," he himself added as if supporting her pledge. "But first, we
need to talk," he informed his son with as much warning as he could summon in
his voice, then gazed up at the red-head. "Alone."

"Don't hurt him again," she instantly warned him in return.

While Luke pretended to be uneasy and tried to get back to his feet and on his
bed, Anakin held him more tightly to still him; he locked his gaze on their
third companion.

"I won't, but this is a father/son discussion."

Jade searched his son with her eyes, then sighed and left the room.

Once alone, Anakin finally laid him back on his bed.

"This is getting worse all the time," his son half-whispered, obviously heart-
broken.

"We knew that it was coming, Son," he reminded him seriously. "And who knows,
with 'him' out of the way, your love for each other might surprise us all," he
tried to reassure him.

His son barely shrugged in answer, then flopped back on his back, exhausted.

"While you were resting, I modified some of your orders. I fear that we will be
forced to return to our first plan."

Making more orphans in the galaxy, Luke understood.

"And also," his father added more solemnly, "we will have to adopt a new pattern
of thoughts if we don't want to lose what we gained lately while keeping up
appearances."

"Like?" the youth inquired, perching an eyebrow in confusion.

"Our feelings," his father explained. "We can't let them drive us anymore; we
have to forego them, to be at peace in our minds when we use the Force, and then
only when we really have to use it."

Luke slowly, painfully raised himself on his elbows to gape at his father.

"You mean... the Jedi Serenity?" he asked in disbelief.

For as far as he could remember, he and his father had never practiced the well
known Jedi serenity, despising it to the utmost... until now.

"It is the opposite of the Dark Side," his father answered his thought, "and
since it will also make us appear will-less once again, the Emperor will leave
us alone for a while."

Luke took a moment to think, then he tried to sit back up. His father helped
him up.

"Won't it mark us as Light Jedi when we 'will' use the Force," he asked
worriedly.

"I thought about that," his father nodded, "I think that if we use the Force as
we used to do but without the dark feelings, it shouldn't make our Light shine
in the Force because of the results around us."

"You think?" Luke asked in slight worry.

"I'm not sure," Anakin admitted, "That is why we should really restrain
ourselves from using the Force. 'That' won't make any difference in the Force."

"And what about Mara?" the younger man queried even as he glanced at the closed
door. "Do you think that she will feel a difference?" he asked seriously.

His father shook his head in reassurance. "She will see it as devotion to our
'master'."

Luke wasn't totally convinced, but at the same time, he couldn't think of
anything else to do.

"I hope you're right, Father," he finally sighed in agreement.

"Me too," his father answered, then brought his hand to his belt.

Puzzled by his movement, Luke tracked the hand with his eyes--- then gaped when
he saw him produce a small, wooden pendant.

"I didn't tell you last time, Son," he began gently, "but Leia wasn't the only
one to help me break free... Your mother also helped me," he informed him even
as he showed him the object he had been hiding.

Luke was speechless at the mention of his mother's ongoing existence; he was
barely felt his father's hand against his when he rested the pendant in his
hand. His mother, always unreal and unknown except for what his father had told
him about her. To him, she had always been little more than a dream... or a
spirit--- until now.

"This was Mother's?" he finally asked in disbelief as he held for the first time
an object which was proving that his mother had indeed existed; he wasn't the
only such proof anymore.

"I made it for her when I met her," his father nodded slightly, then stood up
and selected a reader on the nearby desk. "Now that it has saved me, she leaves
it behind for you," he told him as he offered him the reader.

Hesitatingly, unsure of what he was supposed to do, Luke took the reader and
laid it on his lap, then studied the pendant.

It was simply carved, yet the coloring was intricate. He also noticed that it
wasn't wood, but another substance--- then he spotted the hinges on its sides.
Carefully, he tried to open it... and gaped in understanding when he saw the
small disk which was hidden within the pendant.

He gazed up at his father; Ani nodded at him. Silently, he removed the disk
from its hiding place and loaded it on his pad--- and dropped it in shock and
surprise when the hologram of his mother sprung from the reader's surface.
However, he couldn't tear his eyes off of her.

His mother...

For the first time in his life, he could see his mother.

He barely listened to her message for his father, instead immersing himself in a
study of her features to commit them to his memory.

She was like Leia, he instantly noticed, then began to register the differences
between the two women. There weren't that many of them, he finally admitted
when the message came to an end.

His eyesight was blurred with tears now; his father gently brushed the droplets
which slid down his cheeks.

"Thank you, Father," he told him gratefully. "I had never seen her before."

"And now, you will see her as often as you want," Anakin told him, surprising
him with his answer.

"You mean... that I'll keep it?" he asked in disbelief.

His father nodded, then freed the disk from the reader and put it back in the
pendant.

"As I said, Luke, she left it for you, and she wants you to have it now."

Luke caught his father's words and frowned, then gaped once again as he
understood exactly what he meant.

"She is with Leia??"

"Yes," his father agreed. "Leia forwarded her request to me yesterday."

Before he could ask more questions about this though, his father stood up, put
the pendant in the drawer of his desk, then helped him back down on the bed.

"Rest now, Luke," he instructed him. "We are but at the beginning of our
journey... we will need our strengths to see this through."

Still drained by his false/true punishment, the young Jedi didn't complain; he
slowly rolled on his side, then fell back asleep before he was once again alone
in his room.

The thought of his mother watching over him kept him asleep for a long, long
while.

******

Meanwhile, Anakin didn't escape his son's quarters before Mara Jade caught up
with him. Even as the young woman literally prowled on him, he noticed that she
had foregone her intricate hair-style to instead let her fiery mane down her
back.

As if, he reflected dimly, she had put an end to her play of courtesan for the
time being. She was still wearing an elegant gown though; it made her look more
vulnerable than ever.

"How long have you known that he was like this?" she asked him without preamble,
as he had expected from the curt woman.

"Not long," he answered shortly, "but I wanted to see if it were temporary... or
worse."

"Then why, for Force's Sake, did you hurt him this much?"

Anakin nor Vader couldn't think of a justification that would sound reasonable
to the young assassin's ears.

"Luke told me that he wouldn't listen otherwise," she continued vehemently, "but
still, you didn't---"

He interrupted her. "And that's exactly what happened, Jade," he answered with
a half-growl, silently thanking his son for thinking of an alibi for them. "I
tried to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen to me; he kept saying that he
was perfectly all right, that nothing had changed, then he used the Force and I
knew."

"Knew what?" his son's lover inquired worriedly.

"Somehow, Leia's spirit was taking over Luke's mind," he lied, then let a
silence of regret hang between himself and Jade.

Finally, when the young woman had stared long enough at him to believe him, he
continued.

"Whatever she did to him upon her death, I knew that I had no choice but to wake
'him' up... to make him reconsider his latest actions, and the Emperor had told
me to punish him for his Jedi-like ideas. I had no choice," he finally
apologized to the girl, then reached out and did the same with his son's
subconscious.

Naturally, Luke didn't hold any grudge against him, but despite his
explanations, his lover still did. However, he realized, her resent was not
directed toward his physical injuries anymore.

"You should never have brought that rebel with us," the assassin finally
commented in disgust.

Anakin, who knew that his daughter had managed to pull a friendship from the
cold girl, was surprised by her new reasoning... then he belatedly understood
that it was her way to find someone responsible for her boyfriend's trauma.

She couldn't really hold their 'master' responsible, now, could she?, he
silently sneered in disgust.

He decided to force her to face that truth.

"Perhaps," he shrugged, "but I would have liked to see you try to keep Luke from
taking her home," he reminded her seriously.

She had been with them when Luke had returned from his mission with his sister.
He knew that she knew just how stubborn Luke had been to redeem his sister, to
welcome her in the family. When she winced slightly, he understood that she
knew this even more than he himself did.

"Had I known," she finally sighed in resignation, "I would have argued more
strongly with him," she finished glumly.

"What is important now, Jade," he reminded her, still maintaining the illusion
of being Darth Vader, "is that it doesn't happen again. Luke must not give into
his feelings for enemies again."

"Oh I promise that he won't," the red-head answered, her eyelids lowering on her
eyes until they were mere slits which betrayed her sudden focus. "or I will be
the first one to catch him... and convince him to listen to us."

While he nodded in mock-agreement, he reflected that a close watch from Jade's
part would make it touchy for his son to hide his Jedi nature, but he also knew
that it would be the best mean at their disposal to convince the Emperor that
everything was back to normal.

Besides, he tried to reassure himself, his son had been trained for long-term
cover-ups and his shields were stronger than even his own were. Now that they
knew what to dampen, they would both be safe until they could finally free
themselves from the Emperor.

******

Two days after Darth Vader's arrival and the sudden quarantine of young Lord and
Lady Vader, things went back to normal for the troops aboard the Annihilator.
Their first commander resumed his duties, not giving them a single clue as to
what had happened during his two missing days; meanwhile, Lord Vader returned to
his own flagship.

The whole fleet was now headed for planets where rebel activity was still
rampant. For the crew of the Annihilator, it meant a change of plan regarding
their month-long transition in hyperspace; none of them complained about the
upcoming operations. From the commanding officers to the regular trooper,
everyone was delighted to escape the boredom of hyperspace.

And Luke knew it.

As he listened to his Lieutenant's report about the planet that was now his new
target, Luke studied his subordinates. They were almost all eager to kill, he
reflected sadly. They seemed ready to board their landing ships and pounce on
the area of the city where outlaw elements had reported the presence of rebel
sympathizers.

None of those men cared about the victims who would be left behind in the wake
of their attack; they only cared about their own prestige, fame, and the
illusion of power which they would experience as they would crush other fellow
living beings. He slowly turned his cool focus on Admiral Piett as the man
suggested how they could position the fleet to keep an eye on the escape
corridors.

He himself continued his thoughts.

He knew everything there was to know about imperial conditioning, of course.

He knew about the training to hate aliens and to consider them inferior to human
beings, but unfortunately, he could see, by the gleam of their eyes, that most
men who were standing around him at the moment hadn't needed training to believe
that. They were chauvinist by nature, except for Piett who was one of the rare
conscript to ever rise to a commanding status. He didn't like to kill, but he
was well trained... like his 'commanding officer', Luke pouted inwardly.

"As such, my Lord," Piett finished respectfully, "we will be able to intercept
any ship that leaves the surface before, during, and after the operation."

And with that, Luke knew that he had to orchestrate the attack. Now that his
officers had presented their tactics to him, he had to make decisions so that
the attack would proceed without an hitch. Silently, he asked for forgiveness
for what he was about to do, then assumed his dark personality.

He stepped closer to the display table, then keyed in some commands.

The Fleet's chrono adjusted itself to -0200.

"Two hours before the fleet comes out of hyperspace, General Veers' troops will
land in the outskirts of the city and make their way unseen into it."

A green dot which represented a shielded troop carrier made its way toward the
surface of the planet; Luke noticed how Veers barely restrained himself from
smirking in satisfaction.

"Make sure they remain uncovered until the time comes to strike, General," he
advised him coolly.

"With pleasure, my Lord," the other bowed.

Luke continued to simulate the operation.

"At 00h00, the Fleet will position itself in 'and' out of sensor range of the
planet, then, the TIE fighters will attack the targeted area."

Now it was Piett's and Barek's turn to be content that their plans had gotten
their lord's attention.

"Then at 00h30, the AT-Ats will be sent in to help the round-up of prisoners and
to patrol the occupied area. I want the leaders and the children up to sixteen
of age to be captured alive," he ordered, keeping his voice cold although he
mentally felt it constrict in horror at himself. "The others are expandable for
the mines of Kessel. The children will be gathered at the rendezvous point for
immediate transfer to the imperial orphanage in the city of Lasgow on the other
continent. The leaders are to be immediately brought aboard the Annihilator for
interrogation."

The five men around him nodded in understanding, then bowed their heads to him
and left to prepare for their part of the operation.

While Luke watched them leave, his heart constricted in hidden compassion for
his soon-to-be victims. He dimly reflected that he couldn't wait to retire to
his own quarters and shed his heavy cloak, both spiritually 'and' physically.

Whereas his leather uniforms didn't add too much torment on his still healing
marks, the weight of his cloak was taking its toll on his shoulders. They were
getting more painful with each passing moment, much like his soul was already
burning raw at the thought of what he had just done.

Then a delicate, feather-like hand barely rested on his left shoulder, drawing
his attention to the present. Now that his meeting was finished, Mara had come
closer to him.

"Where will you be during the operation, my Lord?" she asked him gently.

"I will stay aboard," he answered shortly before he took her hand in his and
gallantly held it in his hand.

*Good idea,* his girlfriend observed through the Force.

*I know; I will be more efficient here than on the ground anyway,* he answered,
then said out loud: "We still have a few hours before the beginning of the
operation though."

"I am your servant, my Lord," his lady answered softly, then accepted his elbow
as he turned slightly away from her to leave.

As he made his way toward the nearest exit, he left orders to be summoned at
minus 03h00, then they were gone.

Once in their quarters though, he didn't engage in any activities with his
friend; he slipped out of his clothes, then laid on his stomach and entered a
new healing trance.

In a few hours, he would have to keep a cruel front; he needed to be in better
shape to pull it off.

Beside him, Mara helped him with his healing.

TBC in part 7: Illusions

SJ: Skyjade@globetrotter.net (any positive stuff is welcome, but negative or
mean comments will be thrown down the Sarlacc s throat without being read.)